{ Islam from inside }

(Sura 33: verse 67) - Prisoners of thought

Added May 19, 2004

Sura 33, verse 67 reads as follows:

33:67 And they shall say: O our
Lord! surely we obeyed our leaders and our great men, so they led us
astray from the path.

Society is a reflection or projection of the human mind - in other
words, the world as it is and as it has been, is to a great extent
shaped by people's minds and their interactions with one another and
with
their environment. The choices that result from this interaction and
the courses of action decided upon, followed and executed, and the
philosophy or worldview that shapes these decisions, all these affect
the society that we construct around ourselves. So this world is, in a
way, a projected image of the human mind. If some characteristics are
more prevalent in the world, perhaps it is because those minds, those
societies with such characteristics exert greater effort, leverage more
resources, and therefore exert greater influence.

To the extent that our minds are full of ambitions, conflict,
fragmentation, aggression, ego, thoughtlessness, self-interest, desire
for gain, fear, paranoia, so also the world is full of such things. To
the extent that they are full of compassion, concern, intelligence,
wisdom, equity, justice, thoughtfulness, inclusiveness, the world has
such qualities.

However, outwardly directed qualities such as ambition and aggression,
by their very nature, seek to impact, change, control, shape, lead, and
direct the outside world. Their force is generally more
immediately palpable and more evident than the more subtle effect of
internally directed characteristics. As well, they are not, by nature,
tempered by an internal compassion and wisdom, but shaped by lower,
more base
internal directives, arising as they do out of the lower self. This
problem is compounded by the fact that, with
the advent of modern technology, our reach and impact, our ability to
influence and control and wreak damage has increased exponentially. As
a result, the necessity of a corresponding improvement in character and
motivation becomes essential, otherwise the dangers of modern
technology placed in the service of ambitious, agressive impulses will
wreak extensive and lasting damage.

"O God, You have made my creation
(khalq) beautiful, so also make my character (khuluq) beautiful."

So the internal character of man becomes an essential concern, and
understanding how to alter our character and thus the character of our
society and our environment becomes crucial. Legalistic religion or
even legalistic secularism sets limits on outward behaviour
(which is useful as it can prevent catastrophic actions), but an
internal change in character can only begin through one's own desire
and understanding - through mindfulness, attentiveness, awareness,
consciousness and the thoughtful communication of what results from
this process.

"Surely there is a Reminder in that
for whoever has a heart, or listens
attentively, while he is
witnessing..." (50:37)

This is not a speedy process, bringing immediate tangible rewards. It
is rather the slow and patient creation of new structures and new
processes which allow the latitiude necessary for deeper, more
comprehensive and flexible solutions, resulting from a deeper
understanding of the problems faced and from qualitatively better
thought processes.

Within societies, individuals and groups representative of various
strands of
thought compete to gain influence over the society and to direct
that society in the direction they desire - shaping it to match the
form and thrust of their own minds, their own thoughts. So in a sense
competing ideas, competing thoughts come into play and over time some
forms come to dominate over others - some ways of thought over others.
The individuals (and organizations) that are representative of these
thoughts gain an
authority and are actively followed or are acquiesced to. They become a
real force in the world - holding large segments of society in the grip
of the legal, economic, and societal structure that arises from their
thoughts.

During the last several decades, Iraqis were held prisoner to the
thoughts of one man - Saddam. He in turn derived his authority and was
able to give free reign to his brutality because of the system of
thought that existed in the nations which armed him and supported him
for their own purposes. Vast numbers of innocent people died as
prisoners of these co-operating systems of thought. It becomes apparent
then that thoughts are the originating point and have an impelling
power capable of creating forces that have powerful effects in the
world - mean, low,
uncompassionate, self-interested thoughts can enslave many and
result in much harm. When internal character and real knowledge is
non-existent or given a low priority, the result on the world stage can
be devastating. If ambition and power and base character is on display
and we acquiesce to
the movements and motions and trends manifesting in our time it is as
if we have submitted to the mean and low thoughts of those who are
attempting to shape the world according to their ambitions and desires,
according to their corrupt and contemptible thoughts, their deformed
character or their selfish ends.

"Our Lord! We obeyed our leaders and
powerful men and so they misled us
as to the path." (33:67)

The Prophet (s.a.) explained that the greater jihad was the internal
struggle with our own nature, our own thoughts, our own character. The
external combat is
nothing, and may not even be necessary if the internal combat is
conducted successfully. If that which is low and base within us and
within our societies is conquered - replaced by compassion and beauty,
then the external struggle eventually becomes unnecessary. As Rumi puts
it:
"...external enemies are nothing. What could they be? Don't you see how
many thousands of unbelievers are prisoner of an unbeliever, who is
their leader? That one unbeliever is a prisoner of thought. We realize
thus that thoughts are to be reckoned with, since by means of one
feeble, mean thought so many thousands of people are held
captive.....When I see distinctly that a hundred thousand forms without
bound and hosts without end, multitude upon multitude, are held captive
by a person who is held captive in turn by a miserable thought, then
all these are prisoners of that one thought. How would it be if the
thoughts were great, endless, holy, and sublime? We realize then
therefore that thoughts matter; forms are secondary, mere instruments."
(Signs of the Unseen - discourse 12,
translated by W.M Thackston Jr.)

The forms cause pain and grief in the external world as outward
manifestations of inward arrogance, ambition, cruelty, of a degraded
and selfish nature. The way to battle them is on the level of thought,
of ideas, of reshaping structures and processes within societies - the
external physical battle, though sometimes necessary, should not be the
primary solution as it cannot alone result in lasting change. The
important thing are thoughts and what feeds them - this comprises the
input, and the output is dependant on the input. The nature of one's
thoughts, one's interior landscape creates a corresponding outer
landscape.

-Irshaad Hussain

On Ignorance and Real Trust

"Ignorance is a form whose composition is of this world. When it
advances, there is darkness; when it retreats, there is light.
The bondsman vacillates with it as shadows vacillate with the sun. Have
you not looked at man? Sometimes you find that he is ignorant of his
own qualities and praises them, while he recognizes their faults in
others and criticizes them. At other times
you find that a person knows his own nature and criticizes it, while
praising the same in others. He vacillates between protection and
disappointment. If he encounters integrity and protection, he is
correct. If he encounters lack of assistance and desertion, he errs.
The key to ignorance is being satisfied with the knowledge one
possesses, and placing all one's trust in it. The key to
knowledge is the desire to exchange one level of knowledge for a higher
level, together with divine grace and guidance." (Imam Jafar al-Sadiq)

-----------------------

"It is related that one of the men of trust came to one of the Imams
(a.s.) and said to him, 'Show me compassion by answering a question
about trust.' The Imam knew the man to be of excellent trust and rare
scrupulousness, and he saw his sincerity in what he was asking before
the man actually put the question. 'Stay where you are and wait with me
for awhile,' he told him. While he was formulating his answer a poor man
passed by. The Imam put his hand into his pocket and, taking something
out, gave it to the poor man. Then he turned to the
man who had asked the question and said, 'Come and ask about what you
have seen.'

'O Imam,' the man said, 'I know that you
could have given me the answer to my question before making me wait.
Why then did you delay?' And the Imam replied, 'Belief means reflecting
on the meaning before I speak. For how could I be
negligent of my innermost being when my Lord perceives it? How could I
discuss the science of trust while there is a coin in
my pocket? It is not permitted for me to discuss that until after I had
given it to him who needs it, so understand!'"(from "Lantern of the Path")

About this article

Anyone who reads the Qur'an is likely to be struck by the unique
nature of its construction, its unusual and constantly shifting rhythms
and the sudden transmutations and displacements in its subject matter.
At first this ever changing literary terrain seems an obstacle to
understanding, but the more time one spends with this book, the more
organic, the more natural the flow of its words feel. It is almost
like flying over an ever-changing landscape - rolling valleys
punctuated by jagged rocks, forests and plains giving way to upthrust
mountains, high plateaus broken by deep lakes, deserts sprinkled
with oasis' and cleft by canyons. Despite the variety of the forms,
despite the startling contrast of adjacent features, a complex organic
beauty underlies and unites all the various elements. These "tafsirs"
emerged from numerous brief scattered notes made while reading the
qur'an (along with numerous commentaries and the works of various
scholars whose profound analyses strongly effected my views) and
reflecting on its content. As well, for a number of years
I have participated in a hallakha, a qur'anic study circle, and many of
the
tafsirs presented here were originally researched for presentation at
that forum.